The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Coreopsis plant, botanically of hybrid origin and known as Coreopsis ‘Salsa’ and will be referred to hereinafter by its cultivar name, ‘Salsa’. The new cultivar of Coreopsis is an herbaceous annual grown for use in borders and containers.
The new invention arose from an ongoing controlled breeding program in Hubbardston, Mass. The objective of the breeding program is to develop hybrid cultivars of Coreopsis with unique and superior garden attributes. The Inventor crossed Coreopsis ‘Sweet Dreams’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,720) and Coreopsis rosea with Coreopsis tinctoria and another annual type species that are not commercialized and made six generations of crosses to produce interspecific hybrids to utilize in his breeding work. The new variety was developed with a goal of producing new cultivars of Coreopsis with unique flower colorations, short and bushy plant habits, and sterility to lengthen bloom periods.
The Inventor made a controlled cross in August 2006 in his test garden in Hubbardston, Mass. between an unnamed F6 generation seedling produced from crosses of Coreopsis tinctoria and Coreopsis rosea as the female parent and an unnamed F6 generation seedling produced from crosses of unnamed hybrid Coreopsis from his breeding program and Coreopsis rosea as the male parent. ‘Salsa’ was selected in August 2007 as a single unique plant amongst the resulting seedlings.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by stem cuttings in Kensington, Conn. in August of 2007 under the direction of the Inventor. The characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.